ATTACK BY DOGS.

185

kept. These ceremonies having been gone through, the magistrate and cavalry retired, leaving the arena to the two picadores, who entered at the same

moment.

They are clothed after the ancient manner of the Spaniards; and fastened down, as it were, to their saddles, wait for him, armed with long lances. They station themselves on different sides of the arena, about twenty yards from the door at which the bull enters. The moment the bull appeared, a deafening shout arose, but it was succeeded by perfect silence. The picadores generally open the scene; but this depends much upon the disposition of the bull, his courage, temper, and strength. The bull frequently rushes upon them; and, if undaunted by the thrusts of the lance he receives, he still presses on to the attack, shouts of applause ring the air, and pleasure then becomes enthusiasm; but if the animal be pacific and cowardly, and runs round the circle, avoiding his persecutors, hisses and blows salute him on every side. They disdain to attack him with men and horses, and they call loudly for the dogs.

Great dogs, kept for the purpose, are then let loose upon him, who seize him by the neck and ears. The animal now finds the use of his natural weapons. The dogs, thrown fiercely into the air, fall stunned, and sometimes lacerated, on the

186

FIERCE ENCOUNTER.

ground: they rise again, renew the combat, and commonly end by overthrowing their adversary, who then perishes ignobly.

Attached to the mane of the bull is a crimson ribbon, which it is the great object of the picador to seize, that he may present it as a trophy to the lady he most admires. Sometimes this ribbon has been torn off at the very moment that the bull closed upon the picador.

The first bull that entered the arena was a bad bull, and quickly dispatched. The second was a fierce bull of Navarre, from which place the best bulls are said to come. He paused only for a moment, and then instantly rushed upon the nearest picador, who wounded him in the neck; but the bull disregarding this, thrust his head under the horse's belly, and threw both him and his rider upon the ground. The horse ran a little way, but, encumbered with trappings, he fell; and the bull, disregarding for a moment the fallen picador, pursued the horse, and pushing at him, broke the girths, and disengaged the animal; which, finding itself at liberty, gallopped round the arena-a dreadful spectacle, covered with gore, and its entrails trailing upon the ground. At this sight Frank, a brave yet most compassionate-hearted child, gave a sort of shout, and turned so deadly white, that Mr. Delville thought he would have fainted. But Frank, though half

ATTACK OF THE BANDERILLERO.

187

broken-hearted with pity, was too manly to give way; his youthful chest heaved; but he struggled with the sudden passion of tears, and he struggled successfully. His efforts were aided by the diversion given to his thoughts, by the loud and repeated shouts from the eager spectators. The bull was now engaged with the chulos, who showed great dexterity in shaking their cloaks in his face, and diverting his attention from the fallen picador. The bull having overthrown the second picador and killed the horse, the impatient crowd were now anxious for fresh actors to come upon the scene, and they signified their inclinations by a monotonous clapping of hands and beating of sticks.

The banderilleros then entered. Their business is to throw darts into the neck of the bull; and in order to do this, they are obliged to approach with great caution, and to be ready for a precipitate retreat; because it sometimes happens that the bull, irritated by the dart, disregards the cloak, which the banderillero throws down to cover his retreat, and closely pursues the aggressor. One banderillero was so closely pursued by the bull of Navarre, that he saved himself only by leaping over the bull's neck. The actual danger, however, is scarcely so great as it appears to the spectator to be, because the bull makes the charge with his eyes shut.

The danger of the picador, who is thrown upon

the ground, is much greater; because, having made the charge, the bull then opens his eyes, and the life of the picador is only saved by the address of the chulos, who divert the attention of the victors.

Generally the banderilleros do not make their appearance until the bull appears by his movements to decline the combat with the picadors; which he shows by scraping the ground with his feet, and retiring.

When the people are tired of the banderilleros, and wish to have a fresh bull, they signify their impatience in the usual way; and the signal is then given for the matador, whose duty is to kill the bull. The matador is in full court dress, and carries a scarlet cloak over his arm, and a sword in his hand; the former he presents to the bull, and when it rushes forward, he steps aside and plunges his sword into the animal's neck; at least so he ought to do, but the service is a dangerous one, and the matador is frequently killed. Sometimes it is impossible for the matador to engage upon equal terms a very wary bull which is not much exhausted.

This was the sixth bull turned out on this occasion; it was an Andalusian bull, and was both wary and powerful. Many times the matador attempted to engage him, but without success: he was constantly on the watch, always disregarding

THE SEMI-LUNA.

189

the cloak, and turning quickly round upon the matador, who was frequently in imminent danger.

At length the people were tired of this lingering combat, and seeing no prospect of its ending, called for the semi-luna, an instrument with which a person skulks behind, and cuts the ham-strings of the animal: this the bull avoided a long time, always turning quickly round; and even after this cruel operation was performed, he was still a dangerous enemy, fighting upon his knees, and even pursuing the matador. The moment the bull falls, he is struck in the spinal marrow with a small stiletto; folding doors, opposite to those by which the bull enters, are thrown open, and three mules, richly caparisoned and adorned with flags, gallop in. The dead bull is attached by a hook to a chain, and the mules gallop out, trailing the bull behind them, this is the work of a moment: the door closes, there is a new flourish of trumpets, and another bull rushes on the arena. This animal proved himself a perfect master of the science: he rushed first at one picador and then at another, and overthrew both the horses and their riders; killing both horses, and wounding one of the picadores.

Two fresh picadores immediately appeared, and these he served in a precisely similar way but the overthrow was more tragical; one of the horses and his rider were raised fairly into the air, and